One of the tidbits in this week’s Council Watch got a lot of attention. Albuquerque is going to build a line from a local dump to our Westside lockup. The excess methane that’s usually burned off at the landfill with be used to heat water in the jail’s boiler room.

It’s predicted the project will save the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center thousands every year for about a century.

Bicyclists spoke out about the first-ever bike ban on a 3,000-foot stretch of Chappell between Osuna and Singer. Signs stating "no bicycles" went up in early January. The city says that stretch is too dangerous for cycling.

The EPA says the Sandia Labs Mixed Waste Landfill isn’t a threat, but a 2011 report by Citizen Action says otherwise. The mixed-waste landfill lies directly above the main source of water for 600,000 Albuquerque residents. From 1959 to 1988 the landfill was used for disposal of low-level radioactive materials. Contaminants include nickel, cadmium, nitrate and chromium, all of which can cause nasty health problems with overexposure. What’s more, Mesa del Sol—a “green” community development touting that its “respect for the environment result[s] in a healthier, simpler, more sustainable way to live”—just broke ground adjacent to the site. (EK)